VRDOLYAK TO JOIN MAYOR`S RACE

Steve Neal, Political writerCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Ald. Edward Vrdolyak (10th) will begin circulating nominating petitions Wednesday as a Democratic candidate for mayor of Chicago and will announce his candidacy within the next 10 days, according to Democratic sources.

After consulting with his family and close political associates, Vrdolyak ended weeks of speculation about his strategy in the 1987 mayoral election by deciding Monday night that he would become a candidate for mayor on the Democratic ticket, sources said.

Vrdolyak has ruled out switching parties to run as a Republican but has left open the option of filing in January as an independent if the Democratic primary field is crowded, the sources said.

Vrdolyak has been chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party since 1982 and was re-elected last spring to a third two-year term.

''Vrdolyak is much more comfortable running as a Democrat, and he didn`t want to give up the forum that he has as county chairman,'' said a Democratic official, who asked not to be identified.

Mayor Harold Washington has not yet disclosed whether he will seek renomination in the Democratic primary or will file in January as an independent candidate for the April general election. Former Mayor Jane Byrne is planning to run in the Democratic primary. Washington has predicted that Vrdolyak won`t run.

Even if Washington files next month as a Democrat, Vrdolyak has predicted that the mayor will withdraw by Dec. 26 and will switch to an independent candidacy in January, which probably would assure the city`s first black mayor of having two white opponents in the April general election. In 1983 Washington edged out Byrne and Cook County State`s Atty. Richard M. Daley on the strength of his black vote, winning with 36 percent of the vote.

Byrne`s candidacy was boosted Monday when three Northwest Side Democratic ward committeemen, including former Chicago Park Supt. Edmund Kelly, endorsed her. On Wednesday, the Chicago Joint Council of Teamsters is scheduled to endorse Byrne`s comeback bid. Louis Peick, president of the Teamsters Joint Council, is a longtime Byrne ally.

Sources said Vrdolyak is seeking to displace Byrne as Washington`s principal challenger. If Washington decides to stay in the Democratic primary, Vrdolyak is holding open the possibility that he might withdraw at the last moment and file in January as an independent, they said.

''Ed thinks that he can beat either Washington or Byrne in a one-on-one contest,'' a Democratic source said.

Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes also is evaluating a mayoral bid, but has not reached a decision, according to political associates. Daley and U.S. Reps. Dan Rostenkowski and William Lipinski have urged Hynes to run.

Vrdolyak, too, had encouraged Hynes to make the race. But the Democratic chairman thinks that Hynes probably won`t run. ''If Vrdolyak thought that Hynes was going to be a candidate, he wouldn`t be going ahead with the petitions,'' a source said.

Two of Vrdolyak`s closest friends, Chicago lawyer Irwin Jann and investment banker Richard Parillo, are expected to be Vrdolyak`s chief fundraisers, according to the sources. Vrdolyak is seeking to raise $1 million for the primary election.

Joseph Novak, Vrdolyak`s top political strategist, and Terry Durkin, press spokesman for the Cook County Democratic party, are set to play major roles in Vrdolyak`s campaign, the sources indicated.

Last summer, Vrdolyak established his own political action committee,

''Save Chicago,'' in preparation for a possible mayoral candidacy, and has since opened a half dozen political offices in white ethnic neighborhoods.

Vrdolyak is planning to make taxes a major theme of his mayoral campaign, according to the Democratic sources. The alderman led the Chicago City Council opposition to Washington`s recent $80 million property tax hike and has also been critical in recent weeks of Byrne`s record on taxes.

Byrne has countered that Vrdolyak isn`t credible as a mayoral contender because of his high negative ratings in public opinion polls. Although Byrne and Daley are running almost even with Washington in public opinion polls, Vrdolyak has trailed Washington by a wide margin.

Vrdolyak`s strategists, though, are making the argument that the Democratic chairman ''has the ability to energize the neighborhoods'' and ''to move numbers,'' the sources said.

By taking the offensive against Washington`s property tax hike, Vrdolyak thinks that he has found a winning issue in the mayoral election. A survey among Southwest Side voters taken last month by Democratic pollster Richard Day indicated that Vrdolyak`s approval ratings had increased following his confrontations with Washington over property taxes.

''There aren`t any neutrals about Eddie. But he`s got the ability to lead the same kind of movement that got Harold elected in 1983,'' said one of Vrdolyak`s political allies.